Biography of His Beatitude, The Most Rev. Julius L. Licata, D.D.,Ph.D., PATRIARCH, Pastor, Cathedral Parish of St. Jude

Archbishop Julius Licata was born in Brooklyn, NY on July 31, 1951 to Daniel Licata and Eleanor Ionides. Daniel was of Italian Descent and Roman Catholic while Eleanor was of Greek Descent and Greek Orthodox. His Grace is the middle of three children. He has an older brother, the late James who resided in the country of Chile. James had two children, Laura and Daniel and several grandchildren and a younger sister, Elena Gouldner who resides in Toms River, NJ with her two children, Erika and Kurt and her grandchild, Lilliana Sky.

In his early years, Archbishop Julius was raised in New York and the family moved to New Jersey when he was in Jr. High. He entered the seminary for the Franciscan Priesthood in 1971 changing to the Diocesan Priesthood in 1979.He was ordained a Roman Catholic Priest in 1981 in the Diocese of Trenton, New Jersey. The Diocese split later that year and he was assigned to the Diocese of Metuchen, New Jersey. His Grace spent 2 years as Associate Pastor of Our Lady of Perpetual Help in Bernardsville, NJ and later 4 years as Associate Pastor of Our Lady of Peace, Fords, NJ. He was assigned as Pastor of St. Lawrence Parish in 1987 where he served until 1993.

In 1993,The Archbishop left the active ministry after much prayer and discernment. He moved to Saylorsburg, PA along with his 4 dogs and a very supportive and good friend. He soon found employment as a family therapist for Bethesda Day Treatment Center and later Wordsworth Treatment facility. In 1996 he was hired by KidsPeace as a Mental Health Professional at the Washington School in Allentown, PA. Later that year he transferred to the Residential Treatment Center in Orefield. In 1998, Abp. Julius and Ginger Papp were given the responsibility of running TeenCentral.Net, an on line site that offers teenagers information and counseling on line. Today, His Beatitude is Director of TeenCentral.Net where the site has over 465,000 register members around the world. There are over 75 volunteer counselors that are overseen by Archbishop Julius.

Archbishop Julius joined the Old Catholic Church in 2007. He embraced the church and returned to active ministry founding St. Jude Old Catholic Church Parish.In 2009, he incardinated in to the Old Catholic Apostolic Church of the Americas and was subsequently consecrated to the Episcopacy. In February 2010, His Beatitude, Mar Ignatius Alexander I, our founder, after seeing the great strides performed by Archbishop Julius and due to His Beatitudes' ever increasing secular demands, elevated His Beatitude to the Archiepiscopacy and made him Primate of all North America. This way, the Patriarch could concentrate on Latin and South America while allowing the Archbishop to build up North America.

Although the Old Catholic Church allows married clergy, Archbishop Julius continues to live the vow of celibacy taken at his ordination.

The founder decided to retire due to family and work demands and elevated Archbishop Julius to the position of Patriarch. Archbishop Julius chose the name Patriarch Julius Louis I.

His Beatitude lives in Bethlehem, PA with our Cathedral's ""Can Do - Make it Happen Man," "friend, and overall wonderful individual", Darrin Schlegel, along with their Boxer Amore as well as with two Bengal cats, Simba and Scar.

Explanation of His Beatitude's Coat of Arms

The ""galero"" or ecclesiastical hat above the ""escutcheon"" or shield is green denoting an episcopal rank. The fifteen ""fiocchi"" or tassels indicate that His Beatitude is a Patriarch and the ""pallium"" hanging off the shield indicates that Archbishop Julius is a Metropolitan within our church and is responsible for all of the clergy and the faithful who come under his protection.

The two crosses on the top of the shield symbolize the office of the Archbishop. The two stones each of the crosses are the stone of the office of bishop â€“ the Amethyst. Directly below is the Tau Cross symbolizing St. Francis of Assisi. The tau cross is an important symbol to St. Francis and the Franciscans. The Patriarch spent much of his Religious formation in the Franciscan order.

On each side of the Tau Cross is the Chi Rho with the Greek letters ""Alpha"" and ""Omega"" on either side of it. These letters reference the Bible passage in the first chapter in Revelations, verse 8: ""I am the Alpha and the Omega,"" says the Lord God, ""who is and who was and who is to come, the Almighty"" (Rev 1:8).The Chi Rho is one of the earliest forms of christogram, and is used by Christians. It is formed by superimposing the first two letters in the Greek spelling of the word Christ, chi = ch and rho = r, in such a way to produce the monogram. Although not technically a cross, the Chi Rho invokes the crucifixion of Jesus as well as symbolizing his status as the Christ. All of these symbols are on a red background symbolizing the blood of Christ shed for His love of humanity to wash away our sins.

Directly below the Chi Rho and the Tau Cross is a line of Greek Key Design which symbolizes the Patriarch's mother's heritage.

The upper left quadrant of the shield holds the Star of Bethlehem. The star of Bethlehem symbolizes the birthplace of the Lord and the birthplace of the Old Catholic Apostolic Church of the Americas. It is also where the Archbishop resides.

The upper right quadrant of the shield holds the Lamb of God and symbolizes both the sacrifice of Christ and the Good Shepherd.Patriarch Julius Louis I strives to model his Episcopacy after the Good Shepherd.

The lower left quadrant of the shield holds a Ship. The emblem of the ship is the symbol for St. Jude Thaddeus. St. Jude is the patron of the Cathedral Parish of which the Patriarch is Pastor.

The lower right quadrant of the shield holds the symbol of the Blessed Mother, Mary. The Patriarch has a great devotion to the BVM.

The other colors on the shield: Gold, Silver, and Blue symbolize: generosity, peace and sincerity, and truth and loyalty and it is through these virtues and qualities that His Beatitude always attempts to live his life.

The Latin phrase, Deus Est Diligo translates as God is Love. This motto is taken from the First Letter of John, Chapter four, verse eight: ""Whoever is without love does not know God, for God is love"" (1 Jn 4:8).